Howdy,

Kyle Wilson ain't exactly tiny. The Ledyard High School senior is 6-foot-3, 245 pounds and is one of the anchors of his team's offensive and defensive lines.

Wilson would be considered small by Montville's standards as it has one of the Eastern Connecticut Conference's more mega-sized offensive lines.

Ledyard's lack of bulk didn't keep it from controlling the line of scrimmage during Friday's 26-21 win. The Colonels defense allowed Montville's power-running game 170 yards on 28 carries, which qualified as a strong effort given how the Indians have trampled other teams.

"Our game plan was to come in and use our speed to get around their size," Wilson said. "I think we did a pretty good job with that. We had some little breakdowns, but we battled the lows and we rode the highs."

Ledyard coach Jim Buonocore said, "They've been the backbone of our football team the last two years. I think they've finally realized that our expectations going into the season, quite frankly, rested on their shoulders. And they felt that they haven't lived up to their end of the bargain. And I think tonight was a good test for them. They took a lot of the (game) lead-up personally as we prepared. We heard about Montville's size and their ability to run the football, and I think these guys were ready to take the opportunity that they shouldn't be forgotten."

Ledyard's front four were Kyle Perry, Robert Bozym, Colin Grim and Wilson.

Grim, a defensive tackle, is 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds.

"Grim is just a tough, hard-nosed football player," Buonocore said. "He's quick off the ball and has tremendous lateral movement. He's a tough, tough kid to block. He's kind of that football player that we've always tried to get on the field, and there was really just no place for him. He's not athletic enough for the secondary. A little bit too slow to play linebacker.

"In our defense, to have that quick middle guard that we can do a lot of run stunts with and put pressure on the quarterback in passing situations, he hits the role perfectly."

Ledyard's offensive line played strong, too. They allowed the team to run 42 times for 308 yards. The front five are tackles Bozym and Wilson, guards Alec Gabriel and Benjamin Morales and center Evan Stockmon.

Chevy Perry ran 12 times for 162 yards for the Colonels (5-2), and Joseph Carter had 16 carries for 98 yards.

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STORYTIME:

Brian and Kyle, The NVL Blog, "Week 7 Wrap", and, "Week 8 Predictions".

Kyle Brennan, Waterbury Republican-American, "Power rankings: Sandy edition".

Mike Cardillo, Connecticut Post, "Look to the spread as reason for many blowouts." Blame Tony Franklin! Or Dutch Meyer! Or Matty Bell! We need our caveman football.

Bryant Carpenter, Meriden Record-Journal, "Lyman Hall football team taking lumps, but improving", and, "50-point rule, debate, lives on".

Ray Curren, Elm City Newspapers, "Inside the SCC: How Did That Happen?"

Mark Jaffee, Waterbury Republican-American, "What we learned: Woodland serious title contender".

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Brendan Bilcheck threw two touchdowns and ran for another as top-ranked Hand of Madison beat North Haven Friday, 24-7. … Arkeel Newsome ran seven times for 146 yards and two touchdowns as No. 2 Ansonia raced past Crosby of Waterbury Friday, 61-20. … Jack Massie completed 14 of 18 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns and scored on a 72-yard run as No. 3 Staples of Westport bludgeoned Darien Saturday, 63-28. The Wreckers had 723 yards of offense.

Quinn Fleeting completed 14 of 21 passes for 220 yards and two scores as No. 4 Windsor handed Farmington its first loss of the season Friday, 34-14. … Thomas Milone caught two touchdowns, ran for another and threw a 70-yard touchdown to Frank Bacarella as No. 5 Masuk of Monroe crunched Notre Dame of Fairfield Friday, 53-8.

DeAngelo Berry ran 17 times for 90 yards and three touchdowns as No. 6 Xavier of Middletown stunned Hillhouse of New Haven Friday, 50-49. Hillhouse took a 49-21 lead seconds into the fourth quarter before the Falcons tied the state-record for the biggest comeback. They share it with both Bacon Academy and St. Joseph of Trumbull. Berry ran for a 1-yard touchdown with 51 seconds left, followed by a game-winning two-point run.

Liam O'Neil completed 12 of 19 passes for 215 yards and five touchdowns to pace No. 7 Greenwich to its 63-22 win over Westhill of Stamford Saturday. … Ervin Philips ran 13 times for 130 yards and two touchdowns, scored on a punt return, and threw a touchdown as No. 8 West Haven beat Cheshire Friday, 43-20.

Stephen Barmore completed 16 of 25 passes for 340 yards and four touchdowns with an interception as No. 9 Southington thumped Hall of West Hartford Saturday, 42-10. … Justin Gombatz ran for 188 yards and two touchdowns as No. 10 Berlin beat Plainville Friday, 34-14.

Tanner Kingsley completed 27 of 40 passes for 502 yards and eight touchdowns Friday as Woodland of Beacon Falls strafed Naugatuck, 56-30. His eight touchdowns ranks second all-time in a game. Bloomfield's Jason Manson threw for nine. Anthony Scirpo added six catches for 126 yards and three touchdowns and caught a 2-point conversion… Adrian Brown ran 23 times for 262 yards and four touchdowns as defending Class S champion Holy Cross of Waterbury beat city-rival Sacred Heart, 52-20.

Torrington led Derby by as much as 39 points in the second quarter of its game Friday, and then withstood a furious Derby rally to win, 52-44. Devone Thomas ran for four touchdowns and Phil Bresson threw for three scores for Torrington (4-3). Mike Kreiger completed 17 of 28 passes for 328 yards and six touchdowns for Derby (4-3) while Dillon McMahon had 10 catches for 238 yards and four touchdowns. The two teams combined for 14 touchdowns.

Dan O'Leary completed 10 of 19 passes for 176 yards and four touchdowns as unbeaten Trinity Catholic of Stamford downed Bassick of Bridgeport Friday, 49-26. … Trumbull fumbled the ball away five times to Danbury Friday. … and won, 28-14. The Golden Eagles didn't allow the Hatters to turn their turnovers into points. … Brad Westmark completed 21 of 33 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns as Brookfield beat Pomperaug of Southbury Friday, 24-15.

Word finally got out Friday that Fairfield Ludlowe coach Matt McCloskey would retire at the end of the season. That night, his team beat Stamford, 7-6. Matt White's 1-yard touchdown run and Victor D'Ascenzo extra point in the fourth quarter led to the win. McCloskey also had his team go for it on fourth-and-2 from their own 45-yard line with one minute, 6 seconds left in the game. White ran for the first down and Ludlowe (2-5) ran out the clock.

Divante White completed 12 of 19 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns as Stonington beat Griswold Friday, 28-7, snapping a five-game losing streak to the Wolverines. We're not comfortable with the Bears throwing that much instead of adhering to the principles of GOD'S OFFENSE.

Amity of Woodbridge scored 24 unanswered points Friday as it rallied to upset Class LL playoff hopeful Fairfield Prep, 24-21. Prep led 14-0 late in the first half. Tyler Burns scored on an 85-yard kickoff return and threw a 28-yard touchdown to Cory Ricks for Amity (3-4). … Takuone Geato ran 17 times for 174 yards and three touchdowns as the East Hampton/Vinal Tech BELLHAWKS blanked Lewis Mills of Burlington Friday, 26-0. … Sophomore Dario Highsmith ran eight times for 85 yards and three touchdowns and completed 4 of 6 passes for 159 yards and two scores as Middletown thrashed Bristol Central Friday, 49-0.

Saffwan Davis ran for four first-quarter touchdowns as Fitch beat Windham Saturday, 56-46. But wait — there's more. Fitch took a 42-0 lead into the fourth quarter. Yes, the Whippets scored 46 points in the final 12 minutes. It would be the second-most points scored in a quarter in state history, according to the Connecticut High School State Football Record Book.

Cameran Tucker almost carried Notre Dame of West Haven past Wilbur Cross of New Haven Friday. The junior ran 36 times for 333 yards and five touchdowns as the Green Knights crunched the Governors, 53-12. … Ryan Silas had four sacks for Haddam-Killingworth as it beat Morgan of Clinton Friday, 20-7. … Justin Potts ran for 146 yards and three touchdowns and scored on a 36-yard catch as Platt of Meriden beat Bloomfield Friday, 45-20.

Rafael Dominguez ran 14 times for 241 yards and four touchdowns Friday as Sheehan of Wallingford bounced East Haven, 48-6. … Nick Crowley had 32 carries for 178 yards and four touchdowns as Bristol Eastern bullied Maloney of Meriden Friday, 40-13. … Guilford had three 100-yard rushers in Friday's 41-14 beating of Branford. Joe Nault ran 14 times for 221 yards and four touchdowns, Eric Zergiebel had 23 carries for 152 yards and a touchdown, and K.C. Horton added four carries for 107 yards and a score.

Brennan Diaz threw a game-winning 2-point conversion to Jeff Haney with 1:28 left in the game as Oxford rallied to beat New Fairfield Saturday, 22-21. Diaz completed 16 of 26 passes for 348 yards and three touchdowns for Oxford. Teammate Chris VanKamerik caught all those touchdowns on an eye-popping 265 yards on just nine catches. … Weston's Tyler Hassett manned-up Saturday in a 20-15 win over Stratford. After missing the first half due to injuries, he came off the bench to throw three second-half touchdowns, including a 46-yard game-winning touchdown to Justin Schaffer with 29 seconds left.

St. Paul of Bristol held Kennedy of Waterbury to 97 yards Saturday and won its first game of the season, 41-0. … Jordan Vazzano threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns Saturday as St. Joseph of Trumbull routed Fairfield Warde, 49-6. Jake Pelletier added seven catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns. … Jack Shaban had 18 carries for 186 yards and a touchdown and was an economical 4 of 6 passing for 42 yards and two touchdowns as unbeaten Barlow of Redding beat New Milford Saturday, 48-21. It's the first time in Rob Tynan's 21 years as Barlow's head coach that the team has started 7-0.

John Shannon ran for 235 yards and three touchdowns as Bullard-Havens of Bridgeport thumped Platt Tech of Milford Saturday, 49-6. … Marquis Little ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 190 yards and a touchdown as Manchester trounced Conard of West Hartford Friday, 40-14. … Hartford Public's Khalil Patterson opened Saturday's game by scoring on a 74-yard kickoff return as the Owls crushed Fermi of Enfield, 48-7. Teammate Auryn Gordon also scored on a 54-yard fumble return.

Zach Ruscoe kicked a game-winning 20-yard field goal at the buzzer as Abbott Tech of Danbury shocked unbeaten Prince Tech of Hartford Saturday, 17-14. … Sean Tynan was a defensive menace Saturday for Ellington/Somers. He had 13 tackles, two sacks and an interception as his team blanked Enfield, 21-0. … The beat goes on at Avon — Colin Moore ran 19 times for 221 yards and four touchdowns as the Falcons thrashed Housatonic Regional/Wamogo Saturday, 37-7.

Brandan Basil completed 18 of 30 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns as unbeaten North Branford clubbed Cromwell Saturday, 42-7. Cromwell was last season's Class S runner-up. … Ezekial Nixon needed just eight carries to run for 174 yards and three touchdowns as Hyde of New Haven clocked Old Saybrook/Westbrook Saturday, 45-8. Nixon added an interception while Donnery Evans had 21 tackles and two sacks. … Devin Bacchiocchi ran for 136 yards and three touchdowns as O'Brien Tech of Ansonia won its first game of the season Saturday, 28-0 over Whitney Tech of Hamden. Joey Fernandes also had seven tackles and a blocked punt.

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The New Haven Register Top 10 media poll (with record and first-place votes in parentheses): 1. Hand-Madison (7-0, 18); 2. Staples-Westport (6-0, 8); 3. Ansonia (7-0); 4. Windsor (6-0); 5. Xavier-Middletown (6-1); 6. Greenwich (6-0); 7. Masuk-Monroe (7-0); 8. Southington (7-0); 9. West Haven (6-1); 10. Newtown (7-0).

Vaya con dios….